4 America Comes of Age America Comes of Age During the early 1900s America seemed to be a nation that would enjoy peace and prosperity forever Theodore Roosevelt one of the country’s most popular leaders presided over the White House Youthful and exuberant he attacked big-industry monopolies and their unfair trade practices He sent navy ships around the world to visit America’s new overseas territories and to display American power One of the country’s first environmentalists he eagerly set aside thousands of square miles of land as part of America’s new national park system When Roosevelt left the White House in 1909 he turned the presidency over to his handpicked successor and close friend William Howard Taft Theodore Roosevelt raised a volunteer group of soldiers called the Rough Riders who fought the Spanish in Cuba in 1898 William Howard Taft wearing crown seated on shoulder of Theodore Roosevelt
The country is in safe hands while Theodore Roosevelt is at the helm
6 America Comes of Age Roosevelt and Taft however soon began to quarrel Roosevelt believed that Taft was too conservative and betrayed the policies for which Roosevelt had fought so hard Their fight divided the Republican Party In 1912 Taft received a renomination for a second term and Roosevelt decided to run for president on a third-party ticket When Roosevelt said that he felt as vigorous as a bull moose his party received the title of the Bull Moose Party Woodrow Wilson Words to Know Bull Moose Party BUL MOOSS PAR-tee A third party officially called the Progressive Party founded in 1912 by former president Theodore Roosevelt and other Insurgent Republicans Peace and War Because the Republican vote split between Roosevelt and Taft the Democrats won the 1912 presidential election In March 1913 Woodrow Wilson a former college professor became president of the United States His eight years in office proved to be one of the most significant periods of change in U S history President Wilson enacted many of the reforms that Roosevelt had supported He established the Federal Reserve which was a national banking system He also passed other measures to break up monopolies in order to guarantee the right of competition in American business However Wilson became increasingly preoccupied with America’s role in foreign affairs In 1914 Europe was plunged into a great war World War I The people of the United States wanted to stay out of the war and Wilson did attempt to keep the nation from being involved But German submarines were attacking American ships which were bringing goods and weapons to Great Britain The German attacks angered the nation and by 1917 President Wilson felt that he had no other choice but to go to war In April of that year the U S Congress at the request of the president declared war against Germany
World War I World War I brought about major changes in American life The draft raised an army of 4 million men More than 2 million of them received orders to go to France to fight with the other allied powers Great Britain the Soviet Union and France against Germany America Comes of Age 7 At home women worked in factories and volunteered as nurses to help in the war effort Another great change was the movement of African Americans from the South to the cities of the North in search of work and a better life People across the land lived on rations for the duration of the war A soldier holds up a U S flag during World War I
